A few years ago after a game of golf, S Rahman, on a visit to Bangkok from Hong Kong, was offered a ride back to his hotel by his golfing buddy Thira Wipuchanin.

First, though, Thira had to stop at a supermarket to buy dog food for his sister, Tharinee or "Carrie".

Rahman watched with surprise as Thira stocked up on hundreds of kilograms of sacks of dog food. "What kind of dog does your sister have?" he asked, flabbergasted.

Thus he ended up visiting one of Carrie's doggie homes, which house the 100 or so beneficiaries of her rescue group, Pic-A-Pet4Home.

As he entered the gate, he remembers, 10 or 12 dogs romped up to him. "They were all wagging their tails," he says in amazement. Carrie and her staff must have provided each dog with a great deal of love.

Thoroughly impressed with Carrie's dedication and persistence, he offered to round up a bunch of friends and contribute some money to her.

In Thailand, some rescue organisations work on a not-for-profit basis.

Donations they receive go for the upkeep and medical treatment of the rescued animals - and in a very few cases, the salary of a professional manager.

These organisations are probably the trend, since unpaid volunteers, although dedicated, may not be as reliable for the long-term survival of the organisation.

In other cases, the rescue organisations are not really organisations, but one person's willingness and ability to take care of stray animals.

Some of these people are extremely poor, devoting what little wherewithal they have to the animals they've adopted. I've met a few of these people, and among their number, still a fewer number have simply refused to let me publicise them.

Feeding dogs is their tamboon, their good deed, and they don't particularly want anyone else to interfere with it.

Although Carrie comes from a family that's not rich, not poor, she considers Pic-A-Pet4Home her own personal tamboon.

She wishes for only one thing: to find people who will adopt and provide a good home for her charges.

She tried to explain this concept to Rahman, but he was so moved by what she is doing that he zipped back home and corralled a bunch of friends to donate to his new "Pick-a-Pet4Home's Friends from Hong Kong". Just recently, he sent Carrie Bt100,000.

With the donation, another situation has arisen. The friends from Hong Kong need a public announcement that Carrie has received the money. It's understandable. People prefer confirmation, although a whole bunch of people out there donate regularly to scam artists (unfortunately) without requiring any confirmation whatever.

Thus, in confirmation and with the deepest gratitude from Carrie, I list the names of the "Pick-a-Pet4Home's Friends from Hong Kong" here:

Allan Aw, Marcia Aw, Dogotel (Ken Koh), Stanley Fong, Anne Lo, One Tel Limited (Savio Kwong), Stanley & Sharon Pong, S Rahman, John Shaw, Joanna Tan, MY & Jennifer Wan, Tim Yung.

By Laurie Rosenthal